Gravity Falls: Better Late Than Never
by Mr. Spinner
Summary: What would have happened if the Zodiac had been completed? As Dipper and Mabel assemble the crew to find out ... they are in for a surprise. Even by the standards of a town as weird as Gravity Falls. One-shot. R&R


**Gravity Falls: Better Late Than Never**

_2nd Summer in Gravity Falls_

Dipper hummed in thought as he finished the entry in his pine-tree journal. He quickly flipped the last few pages and grimaced. Less than twenty pages left — he'd have to find a way to get a second journal soon. Mabel had gotten this one from an interdimensional duplicate … maybe she could _make_ him one?

"Heya, Dip-Dop!" Mabel shouted from behind, making Dipper jump in his seat. "Finally filled up that first journal, huh?" she said with a wide grin. "Well, lucky for you-" she pulled out an identical blank journal with a "2" etched into the gold-leaf pine tree, "-I saw that coming this summer!"

Dipper chuckled and took the journal, lightly brushing his fingers over the blue leather of the cover. "Thanks, Mabel," he said. As twins do, the Pines' thoughts aligned for a moment, thinking about bringing up an awkward sibling hug. And in concert, they brushed it aside.

Mabel glanced up at Dipper's treasured trucker's cap, which he had reclaimed from Wendy when they had gotten back to town in exchange for her own lumberjack-style hat, which Dipper had called an "ushanka". On a whim, she looked down at her sweater, the one with the shooting star … and a memory she hadn't focused on in nearly a year surfaced in her mind. Along with a question.

"Hey, Dip?" she asked.

"Yeah?" he replied absently, leafing through some papers that looked suspiciously like DDMD stuff.

Mabel pursed her lips as she thought over her question. "Remember the very end of-" she glanced around, suddenly paranoid about the "Never Mind All That" law even though they were in their old room at the Mystery Shack, "-Weirdmageddon?"

Dipper's smile faded into a hard line. "Little hard to forget that kind of thing, Mabel," he snarked.

Mabel bit her lips and scolded herself. "No, not the whole thing. I meant-" she snatched his cap and pointed at the pine tree, then to her sweater, "-I meant the crazy art project Grunkle Ford made in the Fearamid. The one he said was the last chance to stop Bill."

Dipper blinked at the sudden question. "The Zodiac? Um, yeah. Vaguely. I mean, it was a pretty stressful time." He glanced at her side-long. "Why?"

Mabel scratched her head, the memory playing back in her mind's eye. "Well, I was just thinking that it looked like it was working before Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford started fighting. I kinda wonder what would have happened if it finished up."

Dipper considered that for a moment, his famous curiosity catching like a candle flame. "Well, I mean, it was supposed to stop Bill. I guess we'll never know."

Mabel blanched at that. "Hold up? You're passing on a mystery? You? Mister I-gotta-solve-the-mystery-of-the-Author-before-summer-ends?"

"Hey, I never said it wasn't a good thought, but the Zodiac's purpose was to vanquish Bill, and he's gone. It probably wouldn't even work anymore."

Mabel was quiet for about three seconds before a wide grin spread across her face. "Why don't we find out for sure?" she asked.

Dipper's eye twitched as numerous waves of emotion rose up and crashed against each other in his mind, all fighting for dominance. Apprehension, curiosity, paranoia, scientific interest, low-key fear, a sense of adventure … Finally, the positives won out over the negatives.

"Let's get the gang back together," he grinned.

* * *

The next morning found a crowd of ten people on one of the tennis courts of Fiddleford McGucket's Hootenanny Hut — formerly known as Northwest Manor — after an evening of contacting everyone who had been a part of the Zodiac and agreeing on a time and place.

Of the group, Dipper and Mabel were easily the most energized, having been the ones to organize this little experiment.

McGucket and Stanford were in the next-best condition, partly from being used to strange morning schedules due to their self-appointed work and actually _living_ in the "Hut", both Stans having moved in after their Arctic voyage to give McGucket some company and to give space to Soos and Melody. Stan was only slightly less adjusted, also from proximity.

Next on the wakefulness scale came Soos, who was pumped about anything that the younger set of Pines twins could cook up — Gideon, who was overjoyed to be included — and Pacifica, who never passed up a chance to hang out with her closest friends. Even if she was on a schedule due to her afternoon shift at Greasy's Diner and being on the grounds of her former home made her feel a little awkward.

Finally, one the sleepy end of the scale was Wendy and Robbie, who were both yawning and rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. After all, they were teenagers. In addition, Melody and Tambry were there to watch out for their respective love interests, Tambry in addition ready to record whatever may or may not happen on her phone.

"So why are we here, anyway?" Robbie groaned. "I only came because Wendy threatened to beat me up if I didn't."

"We're here to test out a hypothesis!" Mabel cried, glad she had asked Grunkle Ford about science-y words when they arrived.

"I believe that's my cue," Ford commented, shaking a can of spray paint. With a fine mixture of speed and precision, he created the image of the Zodiac on the concrete of the court. In truth, Ford had mixed feelings about trying to invoke the Zodiac after its purpose had been alternatively fulfilled. But, like Dipper (arguably moreso), his curiosity had won out.

"Video's live," Tambry called out, livestreaming the event.

"Hold on," Ford called out. "If anyone has any reservations about this, speak up now. I didn't do twelve doctorates worth of dissertations without learning about informed consent."

"You're gonna see what the human circuit board will do, right?" Wendy asked rhetorically. "Sounds pretty metal. I'm in." Comments of assent, interest, and even excitement (from Soos) followed her words.

"Okay, everyone!" Mabel called out. "Take your places!"

After a little rearranging to align with their spots on the diagram, everyone took each others' hands. As it had nine months before, the diagram began to glow with an ethereal blue light, light that spread to cover the subjects in a soft aura. Dark clouds began to converge from all corners of the sky and swirl above.

As the energy of the circle began to grow, all of the members began to breathe harder, feelings like powerful static or magnetic charges crackling over their skin. Stray bolts of power began to surge outward. Even more than the buildup of power, the sheer magnitude of the growing force began to strain the members.

The clouds continued to swirl above, slowly coalescing into a funnel that shot from the heavens like a striking snake. It crashed into the image of Bill Cipher, the inner circle of the diagram bursting into a column of white light.

The light condensed like a shining cloud above the Zodiac, swirling and twisting like pearly aurora borealis. The cloud seemed to stabilize into the visage of a great multi-limbed lizard with huge frills on the sides of its neck. A great sound, powerful but not unpleasant, emerged from the cloud before it turned into another funnel and swirled around to land within the confines of the circle proper.

A great surge of force pushed the members of the Zodiac backward a few inches, breaking their connection. The cloud of dust kicked up by the converging forces began to settle to reveal … something none of them could never have expected.

Within the circle stood a tall creature with a round head, wide mouth, and seven eyes. The rest of her body, aside from her dainty hands, was covered in a hooded cloak of deep blue and a dark green brooch, a string of alternately-colored crystals hanging at her hip. A sense of alien power emanated from her, somehow equally intimidating and soothing.

"Jheselbrawm?!" Ford cried, the first to overcome his shock.

**"Greetings, Stanford Pines,"** the being, Jheselbrawm, answered. Her voice echoed across the grounds. She turned to gaze at each of them in turn. **"And greetings to all gathered here."** She paused at Stanley, her unchanging visage somehow conveying a sense of … contemplation. **"And, of course, Stanley Pines, who dealt the final blow to the accursed Cipher."**

Mist arose to enshroud the circle, faintly glowing with power and forming a huge image of the inside of the Mystery Shack's living room shrouded in blue flames. "_Look at me you one-eyed demon!_" the image of Stan demanded. "_Yeah, you're a real wise guy but you made one fatal mistake._" He pointed at Bill with all the authority of Fate itself. "_...You messed with my family!" _

The mist showed Bill pleading for his life and beginning to succumb to the effects of the memory gun, building intimidating new forms that crumbled just as quickly as he could assume them, all the while shouting a backward speech. "_STANLEY-Y-Y…!_" Stan lunged and suckerpunched bill right in the eye, shattering his form for good with an echoing scream.

The mist dissipated, leaving everyone gathered in awe. "Whoa," Wendy said.

"Huh," Stan commented, "so that's how it went down." Stan grunted as a flash of a migraine hit him, the memories from that encounter flaring fresh in his mind as if they had never been burned away.

**"Indeed it is,"** Jheselbrawm concurred. **"Your sacrifice rid the Multiverse of a great evil. You should be pleased with yourself."**

"So, hold up," Mabel cut in. "The circle thingy was gonna summon _you _to beat Bill? How was that gonna help?"

Jheselbrawm turned to face Mabel, her hands folded in front of her. And without the slightest movement from her, the sense of power around her _intensified_. The ground began to shake like jello, the trees bending _away _from her as if caught in a great wind, the morning sky turning fiery red like the deepest sunset.

**"I assure you, little one, that he would not have stood the barest chance against me."** And like a switch being flipped, everything immediately returned to normal like nothing had ever happened.

Mabel swallowed thickly and gave a thumbs-up. "Got it."

Like before, her expression didn't change in the slightest. But one could still perceive a sense of ... satisfaction from her.

"I understand," Ford said out of the blue. Everyone looked to him. "You … you're the one they mentioned." He pointed shakily at her. "You're the Axolotl."

**"In a sense, you are correct. I am but a fragment, summoned forth by the Zodiac. Had I come in all my glory, this fair haven of a hamlet would not have survived. And it would be a pity to destroy a refuge of such wonders in this dimension."**

Jheselbrawm's form seemed to flicker briefly. **"My time here grows short. Before I go, there is a final matter to settle."** She turned toward Dipper. **"Young one, a debt remains to you."**

Dipper began to sweat, irrational nerves acting up. "Whoa, I swear I don't remember making a deal with you! I- I've never met you before! I-I-I-" Before he could stumble further into shaky denials, she lifted a single finger that stopped the flow.

**"It is not you that bears this debt, but I."**

The mist arose again flared with soft light and color to show the attic room of the Mystery Shack. "_Tick-tock, kid,_" Bill goaded, his eye a ticking watchface and his outstretched hand alit with blue flames. Dipper took the proffered hand. "_So which puppet will you take?_" "_Hmm, let's see. Eeny, meeny, miney … YOU!_" Bill ripped Dipper from his body and took over, his poisonous yellow eyes with up-stretched pupils staring out over a wide, unhinged smile. With a demented cackle, he smashed the laptop from the underground lab.

The image faded and the ground began to faintly tremble again. Yet again, Jheselbrawm's expression remained unchanged, but a sense of quiet _fury_ could still be felt. **"To turn from a bargain so Sealed…!"** The trembling stopped. **"A debt is still owed. And as the cursed triangle is no more,"** she flicked a finger and a bolt of faint blue power lanced up and over to strike Stan between the eyes with a yelp, **"it falls to me to balance the scales."**

Jheselbrawm looked again to Dipper. **"And so, child, what is it you now desire? Wealth …? Power …? ...Knowledge…?"** She glanced for a split second to her right, at Pacifica. **"Perhaps love?"**

Dipper's mouth hung open at the offer. A being he somehow knew was leagues above even Bill in power offered him his choice of a boon. His mind swirled with fragmented thoughts and ideas. But each and every one he cast aside, either too small or too self-centered.

**"You are uncertain,"** Jheselbrawm noted wryly.

"Yeah," Dipper confirmed. "My deepest wish, I think … is a new mystery. But last summer, the stakes were so high. Everyone almost died. I-" He hesitated, and then an idea came to mind. Something … great.

"I want this town and its weirdness to be protected from those who would do it harm," he said.

Jheselbrawm. Blinked.

**"A noble request, indeed, young one."** She flickered again, a few times. **"I will ensure it."** She began to fade away in earnest. **"And perhaps a gift. A new mystery that will reveal itself … quite soon."** As she faded for good, a sense of quiet, mischievous humor faded with her.

The mist dissipated and the clouds overhead broke apart to leave a clear sky as the sounds of the forest returned to normal. Everyone took a few moments to process what had happened.

"What the hell?!" Tambry cried, shattering the silence and making everyone jump. "I didn't get any of that! After the circle thing started glowing, everything in the video goes dark!"

"Well," Melody said, "at least you have your memories. That's more valuable than any recording." Everyone laughed at the normally deadpan teen's outraged glare, breaking the tension from summoning such a powerful otherworldly being.

"Let's do it again!" Mabel shouted, drawing everyone back into the circle.

Nothing happened. Not even a spark of magic.

"I guess it was a one-time deal," Pacifica noted.

"Well I'm starved," Soos said. "Who's up for pancakes at Greasy's?"

Everyone chuckled and gave spattering agreement, the crowd heading for the gates to town. But before Dipper could follow, a familiarly-odd hand on his shoulder drew him back. Dipper glanced back at Ford, looking a bit less upward than he had last summer with his growth spurt over the school year.

Ford looked up to make sure everyone was still moving, giving a faint nod to reassure Stan and Mabel when they looked back questioningly. "Dipper, do you have any idea at all what Jheselbrawm could have meant by her 'gift'?"

"No, Grunkle Ford. Should we be … worried?"

Ford sighed and thought it over. "I don't … think so. I encountered Jheselbrawm toward the end of my travels. She plucked me from the 2-D dimension and gave me great insight about Bill. She even said I had the face of the man who would defeat him, though I know now that she could have just as easily been referring to Stanley as myself, if not both of us." Ford smiled a bit before turning serious again.

"But as benign as she seems, the fact of the matter is that she isn't human. She's a cosmic being whose thoughts, emotions, and motivations are far different from ours. What she sees as a gift may not be thought as such to us."

"Like old stories about fairies?" Dipper asked.

Ford laughed. "Very much so, my boy." He frowned and scratched at the stubble of his chin. "I really don't think she would do something that would hurt us, at least directly. Heck, she's the one who put the plate in my head and I came out just fine." He knocked on his head, creating a familiar clanging sound to emphasize his point. "But we should probably be cautious for the time being. Better safe than sorry, and all."

"At least she said it would come soon," Dipper said, trying to be optimistic.

Ford bit his tongue, tempted to mention that an immortal like Jheselbrawm would have a vastly different idea of time than humans. Best not to break his shaky confidence.

"Right. At least there's that," he settled on.

"So pancakes?" Dipper smiled.

Ford's stomach growled. "Absolutely." They started jogging to catch up to the others.

"Let's hope Pacifica's buying," Dipper chuckled.

And as they left the grounds, strands of clouds swirled to form the faint visage of the Oracle, Jheselbrawm the Unswerving. And just as quickly as it had emerged, a sunbeam dispersed the faint clouds.

Because even without her "gift", Gravity Falls would never be a quiet town for the Pines' and their allies.

**I wrote this in one night after a week of it in my head. It started with the honest internal question of what _would_ have happened if the Zodiac had been completed. With some inspiration from the defictionalized Journal 3, I think I've come up with a unique take on it. **

***Pacifica having a job a Greasy's Diner is not my idea. It originated with author "Milky Boy Blue", who has an excellent batch of GF 2nd summer fics on their page. If you love continuation fics for this great series, check out their works! **

***The Axolotl is semi-canon. It's hinted to be the only piece of canon info in "Dipper and Mabel and the Curse of the Time Prates'" self-guided story. It's also what Bill was crying out to when he was dying. Alex Hirch has confirmed that it was no friend of Bill. And there were images of it in the background of the Oracle's entry in the Journal. So... I made up my own take.**

***Alex Hirch confirmed that Bill still owed Dipper a favor after breaking their deal, so I wrote that in. *This story can also act as a prequel to any number of new adventures that I may or may not write. If anyone has ideas for one shots of Gravity Falls's awesome flavor of weirdness, send me a message. No guarantees that it'll happen, but inspiration can come from anywhere.**

***The bolt that Jheselbrawm shot at Stan destroyed any remaining traces of Bill left in his psyche. He's not coming back in this continuity. Period. **

**Hope you all enjoyed this! May your Muse never waver! (Holy wow, that takes on a darker meaning with this fandom!)**


End file.
